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Curling: World Financial Group Continental Cup brings best in world to London starting Thursday

Chief ice tech Dave Merklinger looks over the ice pads being prepared for this week’s Continental Cup curling championship at the Western Fair Sports Centre in London. (MORRIS LAMONT, The London Free Press)

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The talent of curling that will be on display at the World Financial Group Continental Cup in London will be as good as any.

In the North America vs. the World format of the 12 teams competing in the various disciplines, 10 will be representing their countries next month in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in the 2018 Winter Olympics.

The Continental Cup will put them in a unique competitive setting that’s equated with golf's Ryder Cup, with the best talent, a different format and packed stands that generate the right atmosphere.

The event, beginning Thursday at Western Fair Sports Centre, is almost sold out.

“This is my first time playing it, but this is what I’ve been told to expect and I’m looking forward to it,” said Brett Gallant, the second for the Brad Gushue rink. "It sounds like a fun event. You get a bunch of the best teams in the world are going to be here, so you know every game you play is going to be a good match.

"We love playing in front of good crowds and it sounds like ticket sales are pretty good. That’s a lot of fun for the players.”

Gallant says it’s also going to be a unique experience being a part of a bigger team than just his usual rink.

“You are playing alongside five more teams to make you part of this greater team. I think that creates a pretty cool atmosphere,” he said.

The Continental Cup is more than just a fun event. Many of the teams will use it as a tune-up for future curling events like the Olympics, Brier or Tournament of Hearts.

Gallant says his Gushue rink has only two events, including the Continental Cup, before playing in the national championship.

It’s been a tough few weeks for Gallant and his teammates on the Gushue rink.

In December Gushue lost to Mike McEwen in the semifinal of the Olympic trials. McEwen went on to lose the final to Kevin Koe, who will also be playing here.

On the weekend, Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman lost in the semifinals of the Canadian mixed doubles, missing out on their final opportunity to make the Olympics. They were defeated by Kaitlyn Lawes and John Morris, who went on to defeat Gushue and Val Sweeting in the final.

“A few of us are coming down off that potential high of last week,” Gallant said. “These last couple of days have been a little bit gloomy, especially for us.

"But once this starts, it will be a nice distraction from last week. We took a couple of days off to reflect, but this is going to be a fun event. It’s going to be nice to play something that’s competitive, but also as a curler to be part of something that’s a little bit different, and that’s something to look forward to.”

The home team will feature four teams from Canada and two from the United States, with four of them bound for Pyeongchang: Koe and Ottawa’s Rachel Homan, and the American teams skipped by John Shuster and Nina Roth.

The other Team North America teams include reigning Tim Hortons Brier and world men’s champion Gushue and 2017 Scotties Tournament of Hearts runner-up Michelle Englot.

Every rink on the World Team will be playing in the Olympic: Sweden’s Niklas Edin and Anna Hasselborg, Switzerland’s Peter de Cruz and Silvana Tirinzoni, Norway’s Thomas Ulsrud and Japan’s Satsuki Fujisawa.

“The key is to go out there and just make good shots,” Gallant said. “We all have to play mixed doubles so we’ll likely be playing with someone we’ve never played with before. So in that aspect it will be finding a bit of chemistry and understanding and getting to learn your teammate as quickly as you can to try and have some success.

"Mostly everybody has played it at some point but not with the person they might be playing with this week. It comes down to making curling shots and everybody on the team can do that.”

While those 12 teams compete in the Continental Cup, Canada will be attempting to qualify for the 2018 World Curling Championship at the same time at the same location.

Canada will take on Brazil in a best-of-five competition with the winner going to Las Vegas.

Even though Canada is the reigning world men’s champion, and is ranked first in the world in men’s curling, it wasn’t guaranteed a berth into the 2018 event.

The Americas Zone is guaranteed just two spots in a world championship with one spot traditionally going to the highest finisher in the previous season.

But because the United States is hosting, it gets an automatic berth. Brazil challenged Canada for the second spot.

Glenn Howard’s team from the St. George’s Golf and Curling Club in Etobicoke will play a team skipped by Marcelo Mello.

If Canada qualifies, the winning team at the 2018 Tim Hortons Brier in Regina will represent Canada at the World Championship.

Howard’s team includes Adam Spencer, David Mathers and Scott Howard.

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Canada-Brazil schedule

Game 1: Thursday, 7 p.m.

Game 2: Friday, 2:30 p.m.

Game 3: Friday, 7 p.m.

Game 4: Saturday, 2:30 p.m., if nec.

Game 5: Saturday, 7 p.m., if nec.

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Continental Cup scoring system

The rules for the Continental Cup of Curling are much like Ryder Cup golf scoring.

Three men’s and three women’s teams for North America and the World will complete in mixed doubles, singles, team competitions and skins.

The scoring system has been revised. There is an equal point value for all matches with 60 points available to the teams. First team to 31 points will win the competition.

Mixed doubles competition is worth six points.

Six matches will be played with one point awarded for a win and a half-point to each side for ties.

A male and female player from each side will play five rocks in an eight-end game. One curler throws first and fifth stones and their teammate delivers two through four. Teams have the option of changing up the throwing order during the match.

Singles competition is worth six points.

All players will play this skills competition based on the Ford Hot Shots format that precedes the Scotties and Brier championships. The six team matchups are worth one point for a win and a half-point for a tie.

Each team will face six of the challenging shots: run through, draw the button, draw the port, raise, hit and roll, and double takeout.

Team competition is worth 18 points.

This is the first time this competition has been added to the Continental Cup. It’s a round-robin format for the traditional team competition. The three men’s and the three women’s teams for each both sides will play in eight-end games over six draws. Winners will earn one point with a half-point awarded to each team for a tie. There will be no extra ends.

The Skins Competition is worth 30 points.

This will happen on the final day of competition.

Six skins’ games will be played and all competitors must take part in at least one of the mixed, men’s or women’s matches. Each game is worth five points.

The first six ends carry a half-point value and the last two are worth one point each. A count of at least two with last rock or a steal is required to win an end. Otherwise the points carry over. Carryovers mean a lot of points are on the line with every shot.

In the event of tie games after eight ends each team will choose one player for a draw to the button to determine who takes the points.

The large hockey rink at the Western Fair Sports Centre is being converted to a four pad curling rink for this weekend's Continental Cup. (DEREK RUTTAN, The London Free Press)